


Mistakes Were Made

by EggsaladSurpreme



Category: Yandere Simulator (Video Game)
Genre: All Rivals, Brainwashing, Drugging, Gen, Kidnapping, Murder, Possible Budo/Ayano, Some OCs until canon characters are made, They're only side or background characters though thankfully, Torture, don't count on it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-27
Updated: 2016-07-22
Packaged: 2018-06-04 20:16:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6674044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EggsaladSurpreme/pseuds/EggsaladSurpreme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ayano makes a fatal mistake when taking out a student which puts her reputation in a dangerous position. Her rivals are arriving weekly as usual but she's picking up enemies quicker then she can get rid of them. While this is occurring students are beginning to piece together the tale and an ugly storm is brewing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Ayano plunged the syringe into Shima's throat, biology lessons had been an interesting and useful method of taking out her opponents she had considered and attempted, but she made the fatal mistake of underestimating the practical experience she needed. Never mind however, the martial arts apprentice was only a test to access her understanding, not a first choice of course, but everyone in the Occult club was dead at her hands and she suspected some of the other students currently flocking around the fountain had seen her doing the deed. It appeared she had failed the test anyhow, Shima let out a gargled scream as the needle was dragged through her throat, Ayano had been too rough and something had torn. The girl was going a cold blue and she thrashed and screamed against Ayano.

Ayano did her best to silence the girl, covering the girl's mouth with the bottom of her shirt in a vain attempt despite the copious blood seeping in to the material, though with the wild jerking it provided too difficult to quiet her as Shima struggled between trying to take the weapon out and defending herself.

Quick deaths were the only deaths Ayano had encountered, she had only used sharp objects for her first kills, an occult knife or something equally as sharp that resulted in quick or immediate deaths. The others had looked like suicide or accidents, so to say she was unprepared for a screaming fit would be not only be the understatement of the year, but also a painful blow to her clean death streak. She was right next to the martial arts club, her reputation was too low and there had been way too many rumors spread about her for her to convince the student to go anywhere but a couple of rooms away from the martial arts club, and though she was a part of the club and liked to think she had a pretty good relationship with the other students, the truth was no one liked keeping their back turned around her for too long these days.

Footsteps pounded down the hallway and Ayano dropped the girl, thinking quick but hard about her current choices. She could come out of the room covered in blood and make a mad dash to the shower rooms, or she could stay and launch herself at the other students when they opened the door. It was a no-win situation and there was no way she could blame it on anyone else, she had been too reckless, her plan revolving far too much on the clean-up rather than the elimination. Eyes flickering across the room, her eyes laid rest on the window and impulsively she hurled herself out the frame and jumped out, landing awkwardly on her feet as a sickening crunch came from them and pain rocketed throughout her body. Eyes bulging, Ayano bit her lip so hard her teeth almost tore right through the flesh. She pushed herself against the wall to the shower room, limping in almost a run despite the pain towards the shower room.

Bitter resentment for the girl she had just killed welled up inside her, she hadn't had anything against her previously, other than being part of the martial arts club and being capable of defending herself. Ayano felt almost satisfied now however that she was now bleeding inevitably to death among her horrified friends, which was silly, considering she wouldn't feel this way if she had perhaps planned a little better or not come at her foolishly with a syringe at full strength. Ayano felt momentarily conflicted, but immediately tossed her trail of thoughts to a side, she had never needed a good reason to hate somebody and she didn't care to find one now.

Limping inside the white room, she stripped and showered off before putting her school uniform back on, picking up the bloodied martial arts uniform and syringe and dumping them in the incinerator as the delinquents eyed her with a suspicious glare. She hoped for her sake that they didn't go off and run their mouths, though as their attention was soon lost it seemed more unlikely.

Tears threatened to burst from her eyes at the intense pain coming from her ankle, yet she headed on towards the entrance of the school. She had no evidence on her of committing the crime, and there were improving odds of getting away with the crime as none of the students had actually SEEN her assault Shima, well, so long as everyone had been distracted by the dying girl rather than look out the window as she moved at an average speed away from the scene, which was not in favorable odds as she had rather loudly barreled out of the opened window frame when they were right outside the door. The odds were certainly better than they were with her other questionably unsafe options however and that made it worth it.

The teacher usually standing outside the gate was absent, most likely inside the building among the commotion as a scarcely audible ambulance siren blared off in the distance as Ayano limped off home.

Things had gone more horribly wrong than she could imagine today. She was not able to follow senpai home despite the gorging pit it left in her heart to skip the opportunity, and with a defeated groan she collapsed on the bed as soon as she entered the house and fell immediately to sleep. Waking up in the midnight hours as the adrenaline was surely faded and the ravishing pain awoke her, she swallowed some pain pills and applied bandages around her ankle, praying it was only a sprain or at the worst a fracture.

She skipped school the next day, tending to her injuries and awaiting the police that never arrived at her doorstep.

 

\-  -  -

 

She arrived late on the second day, despite her desperate wanting she couldn't just disappear without a trace and resolved to finally come back to school. The police hadn't come knocking like she suspected they would as soon as she stepped foot in her house, so it was plausible she had not been seen. Her ankle though swollen and painful did not appear to be as seriously injured as she thought it was, and she managed to walk to school with a slight limp and barely any pain after a few dozen pain and anti-inflammatory pills. She arrived at school with the same expression she usually did, she did not meet any students in the lockers and she thought nothing of it being late. She listened with a little more dedication to her biology lessons, certain not to make the same mistake twice.

After her first classes she ate on the benches at the rooftop, the students there seemed shaken and were consistently looking over their shoulder much like some of her witnesses used to. It seemed apparent that a lot of students must have come to investigate the commotion from the last few days only to be met with the fate of a bloody dying girl, that or they had gotten some more sense from when the other murders took place. Still, none of them were giving her the stink eye or reacting to her presence, so a bubble of relief formed within Ayano as she figured she was clean off the radars.

With enthusiasm she breezed through her next classes. On most days she'd do physical education at this time and felt a slight rush of disappointment that she was not able to participate. Knowledge welled up inside her and she felt on the edge of learning something important however, so she sailed without a hitch through the class.

After school she'd usually dispose of any corpses or evidence and go join her other classmates in the martial arts room, for once in a long time however she was free of that responsibility, so went up early to chat with her fellow peers. A knot of anxiety welled up in her as she went to meet with the students who had potentially seen her at her most apathetic state, she devised a quick story to explain when they inevitably asked questions and hid a knife under her shirt by the elastic of her skirt in case things got ugly.

Strolling in the room with a nervous smile, she was met with stiff expressions. Hesitance, fear and surprise welled up in the pupil’s eyes, her smile twitched at the ends and eventually fell to match with the somber tone of the room. She looked to face her sensei, though almost flinched back when she met the gaze of the boy. He was not smiling, his face looked almost identifiable in an expression of what seemed like loathing and determination and he stared at her for what seemed like all eternity. Eventually however, his gaze dropped and a makeshift smile came to his face, it did not reach his eyes.

"Nice to see you here so early Ayano-chan. I couldn't find you this morning, but we've changed our routine a bit. Practice will go to 3:45 to 5:30 now. Now that your here why don't we start?"

Something was off. The room seemed thick with tension and Ayano would occasionally catch a glimpse of another student shivering slightly or having an odd twitch. Ayano expected there to be an aura of grief or anger, but instead all she got was the feeling of impending despair. She wasn't expecting to be practicing for so long or at all, hoping to deliver her story and then sliver away before the training session came, but now it seemed like refusing would send her afternoon down an ugly route for a reason she couldn't describe.

Ayano nodded and got changed into her uniform, when she got out of the dressing room however she was met with the uncanny sight of Budo staring intensely at her injured ankle, he said nothing however and the others rose in a line facing him. Ayano suppressed a shiver.

"Today we'll be going over some old kicking techniques, Ayano-chan wasn't in the club yet when I showed them to all you, so we'll have to demonstrate for her. Your goal is to knock your opponent of their feet without using your hands." Budo said, locking eyes with Ayano with a blank but almost challenging look in his eyes, she wondered if he was just doing this to mess with her because he knew what she had done, though dismissed it as it seemed like a foolish idea. Why would he lie to the police just to mess with her? It was counterproductive and ridiculous.

Juku and Sho were the first to spar, their performance was not of any excellence, stiff and uninterested, like they had something on their minds. Their moves were deliberately slow so Ayano could observe, though unfamiliar and guarded from usual. Ayano watched with keen eyes as always however, analyzing with an unwavering concentration.

After a minutes Sho went from defensive to offensive, Budo praised their work when they were finished and turned to Ayano. Eyes gleaming with something ugly.

"Well, think you got all that Ayano-chan?" He asked mildly, she nodded and he stared for a moment, making her wonder if she had done anything off that would warrant the look he gave her. Eventually he seemed to come back to reality and smiled again.

"Great! Well, since you seem so sure of yourself why don't we start right away? Juku-kun, Sho-kun and Mina-chan can rotate between each other, I'll teach you myself." He said, his tone a little more upbeat and a little warmer, Ayano did not trust it however.

Sure enough, they began. Ayano's ankle was still too tender to use, but putting all her weight onto it seemed to worsen the pain so she switched. It was a lackluster performance for her, and he told her so numeral times in his forced voice, growing more strained until she detected hostility in it.

For what seemed like an eternity they trained, even with the heavy prescribed medications she had taken from her parent's stash her ankle felt like it was being simultaneously crushed and burned at the same time. Budo ignored her grimaces and increased limp and pressed her further. Ayano was certain he was punishing her by now, yet there was still that niggling of doubt in the back of her mind. A member of his club had just died a gruesome death in front of him, it was more logical to suggest he didn't want her to meet the same fate rather than the possibility he had lied about her to the police so he could make her ankle suffer. Yet everything in the room felt so rehearsed, so stiff and awaiting and both him and the other students held these almost resenting looks. Ayano felt unsure.

"Everyone did great today! Especially you Juku-kun, you've been improving tremendously this month." Budo called out to the other students as they left the martial arts room. Ayano watched his clouded expression as it switched to her, they stared at each other for a few moments before she turned to leave.

"Ayano-chan." He said in a harsh voice that made her stop, she turned her head to look him in the eye.

"If you did what I thought you just did I want you to know you'll slip eventually; you won't get away from this." He told her in a voice that made her blood run cold. Her eyes widened slightly, an expression noticeable to only those with a keen eye resembling elation appeared on her face. He knew. His eyes went to her shoes.

"You should probably clean it up before you hurt yourself." He said, warily she looked down to where his eyes were. A strange gooey pink substance was at the bottom of her shoe, it appeared to be cake. While she was identifying the object he turned and walked after his friends. A rush of adrenaline pulsed through her as he left, he didn't say what they were both thinking out loud, but she knew what he was getting at. If she committed the murder like she did and doesn't clean up her act and confess, she'll slip up and he'll go down on her without mercy. 

It would take more than that to intimidate her though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't used Japanese honorifics since I was a twelve year old weeaboo so I've definitely messed them all up. This is also my first fanfiction I've written in a long time so please expect some sloppiness in the first few chapters every here and now, on saying that though if you find my writing poor or uninteresting please tell me what I can improve on.


	2. Chapter 2

Two days passed by without incidence, the school atmosphere had gradually gotten more lively as the days went on and Ayano hadn't laid hands on a single student since her grand failure. She stayed clear of the martial arts room as her ankle healed, and she avoided being around any of the club students for too long hence they ask why she'd been missing club activities. All was going well, and the students were feeling more at peace as the school fell back into its natural routine. Unfortunately, the tranquility would not last, it was a Friday, and like Info-chan had informed her Osana was due to deliver her declaration of love to Senpai under the sakura trees this evening. Ayano could not allow this.

 

Osana was constantly among her friends, and Ayano being the shady lifeless girl in comparison to her made Osana feel uncomfortable just being in her presence. Not to mention even if she managed to convince her to somehow go somewhere with her she couldn't just whisk her away in front of her friends without them stopping to wonder why she never came back. It was also too late to damage her reputation or convince her not to ask out Senpai, a plausible idea at first however came up to maybe get her expelled perhaps if Ayano was stealthy, until during her first period she was informed exams had been suddenly shifted to next week as result of some freak mass printer malfunction the computer club had been apparently responsible for.

 

Time grew short and Ayano was losing her cool as lunch time commenced. She watched with calculating eyes from a distance as Osana left her friend group and walked off somewhere. Ayano followed inconspicuously as the girl walked to the bathrooms. She didn't have a wrench on her to electrocute Osana, but she could still slip the knife she had come to school with into the girl's throat without anyone being the wiser. As if fate however just as she was approaching the bathroom Kokona approached her, swirly purple hair bouncing behind her as she ran over with almost a desperation.

 

"WAIT! Ayano-chan!" She loudly called, taking a few seconds to catch her breath as if she'd ran the whole school looking for her. Ayano froze in her place, had she underestimated the girl and accidentally let her catch on to something she shouldn't of? Memories flew around in her head as she scrambled to think of something that would warrant the current behavior, these were paranoid thoughts however as Kokona smiled up with an almost shy look.

 

"I'm so sorry! Saki-chan and I were wondering if you'd like to come to a little school get together party we've been planning for the weekend. It'll just be the cooking club and a few other girls so we can talk a bit about the murders and exchange a few words about the victims. You were friends with Shima and it felt wrong to exclude you so I came to ask." The girl said between puffs, Ayano felt the temptation to just decline and get on with eliminating Osana, but having seen her near the bathrooms it was not a possibility unless she wanted Kokona spreading around at her little gossip party that she'd seen Ayano right at the crime scene before a murder took place.

 

"Of course I would. It'd be nice to talk to someone about my... friend Shima-chan. It's been a stressful week for all of us I'm sure. Should I bring anything?" She said, mouth twitching for a second as she pulled off a convincing impression of warm and sincere smile. Kokona brightened a bit, muscles relaxing a bit as she was oblivious to the small red flags popping up.

 

"A sleeping bag and some snacks if you want, I'll message you the house address and time online when I get home so don't forget to check. Osana said she's bringing a new recipe she made so make sure you hold out on dinner too!" Kokona said, turning heads and waving as she walked back out to the fountain. Osana came out not a second later and Ayano was forced to watch her follow the same path as Kokona. She shook her head and headed back to class, frustration burning at the back of her throat like a sour taste.

 

After school the students began cleaning the school as per Japanese tradition, Osana would usually join in with the other girls at cooking club despite not being a member or go help Senpai clean in a classroom, so to say Ayano was running clean out of options would be a bit of a dilemma. Analyzing the situation hard however, it was apparent she'd either have to somehow convince Osana to come with her and face the repercussions of being possibly associated with the crime, kill her in public and being directed associated with the crime or allow her to seduce senpai. The later was not acceptable however so she watched as Osana left her classroom and thought of something that could convince her to come with her, Kokona's recent conversation provided with excellent material however and she was soon jogging towards her.

 

"Hey Osana-chan. Kokona-chan invited me to the party and I've accepted her invitation but there's something I'm not comfortable with telling her and I thought you'd probably take it better. It's super embarrassing though and if it's alright could I talk to you about it behind the school when you go to dump the rubbish into the incinerator?" Ayano asked, looking down and biting her lip to hopefully give the impression of nervousness. The hallway cleared out and Osana gave a nervous chuckle.

 

"Ah, sorry. I'm a bit busy right now, you'll have find someone else or tell me online when you go home. Unless it's really weird then don't. I have to go talk to se-Taro! I said Taro!" Ayano's eyes flickered to her face as Osana blushed a ridiculous shade of pink. "I wasn't going to call him senpai, baka!" The girl exclaimed defensively despite the lack of reaction by Ayano, looking nervously for onlookers that heard her.

 

After a few seconds Osana returned to a regular shade and they were left with an awkward silence. They stared at each other for a few seconds before the preposterously long haired girl began slowly walking again and Ayano clenched tightly on the concealed knife between her flesh and skirt elastic, scanning for witnesses before she quickly drew her attention to the long haired rival and plunged the silver between her shoulder blades. Osana let out a shocked yelp as Ayano slapped her hand on the girl's mouth and pulled out the knife, thrusting it in and out the girl's torso several times the best she could from the back of her as Osana began struggling.

 

Eventually after probably what felt like somewhere between fifteen minutes to half an hour she stopped struggling as the blood loss lulled her into a quiet and painless sleep. Ayano let out a sigh as her eyes flickered between the halls, grateful Osana had already walked past the classrooms and died almost silent yet still bitter she'd have to drag the corpse over to the incinerators because she'd laid an ungloved hand on the girl. Ayano's blood run cold as she met with the eyesight of a wide mouthed, shocked looking boy with a soda in hand and martial arts band on his head. Ayano had forgotten to take into consideration that Osama's classes which were located on the second building level were also on the same level as the martial arts block, she also admitted maybe she was getting a little bad at this whole fiasco, perhaps getting too cocky on her first week eliminating the Occult club purely because one member looked at Senpai wrong and now thinking murder was getting easier and not harder.

 

Ayano didn't think much of Juku, he was a coward and a teacher's pet, probably only joined Martial Arts purely so the other students wouldn't think he was such a loser. She didn't pity him, he had always been good at small talk and making her look stronger while sparring by just being himself which she considered gave him some brownie points. His one and only true strength however, was that he was a dedicated tattletale. He would have done well in the police force had he not stumbled across the unsightly display that laid before him and stood there in mute horror as Ayano walked, chased and gorged a hole in his throat and stomach.

 

Being on the east wing of the second floor, Ayano was able to quickly able to drag their bodies over to the bathroom stalls and mop up the blood off the hallway before a leaving teacher or student could see and investigate the liquid. She then went down to the first floor and ran to the shower room before the gym teacher at the gate could see her and washed profusely before putting on her gym uniform. Discarding her uniform and weapon at the incinerator and swiftly taking the circular saw in the gardening club before one of the members could notice. She wasn't able to conceal the large weapon without blatantly looking suspicious, but as most of the students had finished cleaning and were now either in their after school clubs or talking to their friend’s no one seemed to notice.

 

Ayano dragged the wheelie bin from the south wing over to the bathrooms and with an inexperienced hand began slowly cutting off the limbs of the murdered students with the circular saw previously tucked underneath her armpit. The results were less than satisfying however, only able to move one body part at a time without anyone noticing her bloodied uniform or the contents of her trash was not easy to accomplish twelve times before the teacher's cleared out the school, she eventually had to change the plan as some wandering students almost caught her and instead reverted to only dumping the body parts she'd touched like their heads and legs.

 

She was finished as five arrived, showering and discarding her uniform and weapon she then went up to hose down the wheelie bin in the bathroom sink before finally being allowed the luxury of returning home. As she finished and returned the bin to its original place however she was greeted with the nervous smiling face of Budo however, she gave him a blank look and he approached her.

 

"Uh, hey. Where's Juku? He went to get a drink before we began the lesson and hasn't returned." He asked with both a pressing and concerned tone, she shrugged.

 

"I've been taking out the trash." She said in full honesty, the Martial Arts club was certainly better without the sniveling weak coward after all, Ayano wondered if he understood the double meaning to her words for a second before the horrified look that flashed over his face confirmed it.

 

"Oh. Well, I'll keep looking." A sliver of despair behind his confident voice told her all, his eyes seemed to widen and his breathing hitched for a second only drilled in the sense of victory as he jogged off. His head turned back to her in what she thought was him double-checking to make sure she wasn't giving chase, but instead he opened his mouth and spoke.

 

"Oh, Ayano-chan?" He stopped walking for a second, she raised a brow. "I know changing the club activity times was pretty big, but if it's too much I think you're better off coming for an hour every day like you use to than just two hours and fifteen minutes a week. We, uh, were talking about changing it back, but until the murderer is caught we decided in the end that instead we'll just keep the times the same and make it mandatory members come ever school day to stay in the club, unless you're not at school or sick obviously." He said flashing a friendly grin before jogging off.

 

He seemed to apparently be either trying to get rid of her or stop her from being capable of doing anything after school. Both seemed to be poor attempts, more annoyances than obstacles but she'd adapt. Eventually at six the teachers cleared out the school, one found the severed limbs in the bathroom and called the police. Osana and Juku were pronounced dead, the police were unable to find any evidence linking the deaths to Ayano. Ayano stalks senpai home before returning to her own, sleeping well knowing her rival has been eliminated and Senpai is safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I know this is sort of a mess but here's the story timeline of everything so far:
> 
> Week 1 - Ayano starts school and kills the Occult club leader for crushing on senpai, she kills the remaining members for being witnesses. Info-chan tells her about Osana's plans for confessing on the weekend.
> 
> Week 2 - Ayano kills Shima on the Monday and takes Tuesday off to heal, on Wednesday she has the martial arts lesson and on Friday chapter two takes place.
> 
> I'll expand on it in later chapters and it'll make more sense later I promise.


	3. Chapter 3

Like promised Kokona messaged Ayano the details of the party the following Saturday. There were big memorials all over the internet for Osana and the other victims as expected, though surprisingly a lack of media flocking about however aside from the few stray bloggers that got immediately shooed off by the victim's families. Ayano considered not showing up to the party, though decided against it as it was a good opportunity to raise her reputation, instead of stalking senpai like she normally would be she packed her bags and pedaled off to the groceries to buy some cheap store bought cookies with the money her parents left her.

 

When she arrived during the early night Ayano noticed how worn the house was, chipped paint at the edges of the wall and small cuts in the glass were prominent and there seemed to be a strong aroma of alcohol seemingly embedded in the carpet. It was not an ugly house however, it has a pretty garden and the inside was clean, but it was obvious something was off. Kokona knocked on the screen door without a word and waited while Kokona quickly rushed over to open it, her face was puffy like she'd been crying yet she still giving a warm small and greeted her.

 

"Oh! Ayano-chan. I wasn't sure you were coming, come join us. You can put your food on the table, we've just been talking outside." She told her with a voice not quite into the act. Ayano walked inside the put the cookies among the other food, most of it was homemade food either from the girls or their parents, although there was a few store bought snacks like hers.

 

Ayano walked out the back with Kokona, most of her friends were waiting for them with teary faces, there was a few other faces from the science and photography club which struck her as odd, and Mina from her martial arts club. They were sitting around at a table on plastic chairs, two of the students in photography were arguing about something with what looked like a school yearbook between them and Yuna was sobbing almost comically loud. A depressed aura radiated from the outside and they all looked pathetically defeated. Ayano sat next to the empty seat between Mina and Kokona as Mei started speaking in a hushed voice.

 

"Why Osana-chan? She was a little blunt, but she always meant well in the end. It's not fair she had to die from som-some psycho with a saw. I hope she died before the lun-lunatic started cutting her up." Mei said in a squeaky voice, seemingly finding it hard to speak as a few lone tears dripped out.

 

"Well, at least we have a lead now. The fact that she was disassembled with a saw either means it was someone from gardening club or someone the gardening club would of seen-" One of the photography girls started before being slapped over the mouth by her friend. Ayano resisted to roll her eyes.

 

The hours passed quickly, Ayano listened to their crying and squabbling, conversations and rants, they melded like putty in her hands and began quickly leaning on her for reassurance which she gave with patient smiles and comforting words, oblivious to the dead look in her eyes and forged kindness. Soon after they ate and Koharu pulled out some game boards, Ayano watched them play without participating and the room seemed to brighten up tremendously before they called it quits and headed off to bed. Even after the lights were off however the girls were still whispering and giggling like little schoolgirls, eventually Kokona shushed the room, as if having something to say.

 

"Hey, I've got a secret but you've got to promise not to tell anyone!" She whispered, with a burning curiosity even Ayano couldn't shake they all agreed and Kokona paused for a second.

 

"I've got a crush on Taro Yamada, next week on Friday under the cherry blossoms I'm going to confess my love to him!" Kokona exclaimed in a giddy tone, many 'aaww's and 'ohhhhh's were exchanged and Ayano felt like vomiting. How dare she, after all Ayano's worked for? Rage burned at the back of her throat and she felt the urge to suffocate the girl with her pillow. Another Osana just without the freakishly long hair, Ayano gritted her teeth and said nothing. The room finally fell silent and they all drifted off to sleep.

 

Ayano left first thing in the morning and spent the rest of her day stalking her beloved senpai as he visited his childhood friend's grieving parents. The following Monday she headed back to school once again and attended her usual classes, feeling both physically stronger and more educated in biology then she was previously, she thought maybe if she tried drugging another student again she'd succeed, though she didn't put it to the test just yet.

 

During lunchtime she headed up to the rooftop for some fresh air as they'd call it. Watching her Senpai from above while keeping her distance from the other girls as to not let them witness her downright stalker behavior, the tranquility was broken however as Saki and Kokona walked through the doors and spoke in a hushed tone, Ayano listening in partially, though took no interest in the conversation. Unless Kokona was off selling panty shots or something equally terrible she didn't care what happened in her personal life.

 

After lunchtime she headed back to class and listened disinterestedly through her next lessons, mind off in thoughts about Senpai as the teacher explained to the class how any substances found in the science classroom were not to be ingested. Watching as the seconds ticked by on her watch she was eventually forced to leave as the classroom emptied out, she headed to the martial arts room immediately after and was met with bitter faces, which was not surprising considering she had murdered two of their friends after all. Sho and Mina seemed very interested in the floor for whatever reason, and Budo growled at her as she walked over to the dressing room. She raised an eyebrow as she laid eyes on his seething face, unsure whether to proceed or not with changing her clothes.

 

"You know, I thought maybe you'd just been caught in the wrong place at the wrong time when we saw Shima in that room. I'm beginning to think now that maybe I was just trying to trick myself because I couldn't bear the thought of me teaching a murderer. Y-you're... you're not right in the head, you know that right?" He started, uncharacteristically stuttering as his face contorted with rage. Ayano pulled a hurt expression, though she was sure he either saw through it or was too angry to care. His anguish meant nothing to her, she had figured any resentment for her would have died out over the weekend but the mere sight of her must of set it going again.

 

"Mina said you were at the party, that little slumber party Kokona had so she and her friends could grieve over the victims. Ho-how DARE you, you never even spoke to Shima before you.. she was.." He seemed to be trying to compose himself before his anger span out of control and he did something that could be twisted against him.

 

"I went to the party to comfort Kokona. I have not killed anyone." Ayano spoke coldly, without a hint of emotion or care as he seemed to be both on the verge of calmness and blistering rage. He didn't seem to hear her however and he took deep breaths.

 

"I promise I will do everything I can to make sure Shima and Juku get their revenge, even if it means dragging you to hell to do so. I-I don't want to believe you're a bad person, but you're here at all of these scenes and don't even try to explain yourself. It's like you want me to think you killed them, like this is all some sick game to you." Sho came up to him and started rubbing him on the back comfortingly, Mina seemed petrified to be near Ayano but shot Budo a sorry look anyhow.

 

"I'm sorry you feel this way. I figured you'd have trusted me enough to ask. I'm sorry I was wrong." Ayano spoke in a disappointed tone. Budo had seemed so calm and sure of himself after she'd come to class after murdering Shima, heroic and vigilant, but now it was apparent he was hurting and torn between denying she was a murderer and wanting to avenge his friends.

 

"Do-don't do that." He growled before adding softer, "I-I need time to think about this, come back tomorrow. I can't teach you right now in this state.". She complied and left the room, deciding to check in on her new buddies she'd made on the weekend in the cooking room.

 

Kokona seemed to be making something in the kitchen, her friends warmly greeted her as she came in. She gave them a hollow smile and listened as they told her the plans for the victim's funerals and what had occurred after she left in the early morning. Any mistrust or suspicion they'd had before they saw her on the weekend seemed to have melted away and they seemed to be under the impression she was just shy or not very talkative compared to the rest of them. Eventually Kokona came out of the kitchen with a plate of what looked like cut up sausage in cute little octopus shapes, she was offered one and confirmed after biting into the meat that it was in fact sausage. After they ate Kokona started talking about how Senpai had looked at her today and Ayano contemplated getting one of the kitchen knives and slicing her up into animal shapes like the hot dogs. Whilst plotting her demise however Saki stood up suddenly with a flushed look on her face, she walked out of the room without any more than a glance from the rest of the girls as they were enamored with Kokona's retelling of every little nice thing Senpai had ever done for her. Saki beckoned Ayano over to the toilets and she followed, curious.

 

"Hey, this is super embarrassing but I lost my bra somewhere on the school grounds, I can't find it anywhere and I'm too embarrassed to ask anyone else. I was wondering if you could do me a favor and keep an eye out for it? I'd totally owe you one." Saki asked in a voice barely above a whisper, fidgeting with her hands as she told her. Ayano nodded and the girl let out a sigh of relief, nodding in approval and walking back to the club room.

 

Needless to say Ayano almost turned the entire school upside-down looking for it, eager to win over the girl's trust as sinister plans brewed in her mind. She found the plain cyan bra along the outside school wall just behind the sakura tree and quickly scrambled to return it, making note that it would soon be time for her to leave school grounds so she had to hurry. Ayano peaked her head in through the doorway to the cooking club and nodded as Saki turned her attention to her, the girl excused herself and graciously thanked her for finding it. After that Ayano made haste to the Nurse's office and pinched a tranquilizer from the nurse's unlocked desk draw as the women attended to a teary eyed student who needed a Band-Aid on his scraped knee. She concealed it along the elastic of the side of her skirt, careful not to let the needle pierce her skin.

 

There was an instrument box in one of the storage rooms to her knowledge, if she pulled the trick off right she could drug Saki, dump her body in the box and smuggle it out after school was over. After that she could use it to blackmail Kokona or perhaps torture Saki into submission. There were many possibilities and many things that could go wrong, but Ayano felt more confident and experienced using the syringe then she had previously and was sure the benefits of having a girl trapped in her house would come in handy when the time was right.

 

So she proceeded with her plan, telling Saki there was something someone posted about one of her friends that she was feeling more comfortable with telling her about and luring her into the storage room, she slapped a hand over Saki's mouth and jabbed the needle into the girl's neck, knowing precisely where to put it and how not to just shove it through the skin into her neck now that she'd listened properly in class. She felt the vibrations of a muffled yet high pitched scream come from the girl's throat as she took the needle out, the girl collapsing almost immediately on the ground from the drug. Ayano was fascinated that the school had kept such powerful drugs simply in the nurse's office, but knowing the school's track record maybe it wasn't foolish for them to do so had they come across an unfortunate situation.

 

She put the body in the case as quickly as she could in the case the scream was loud enough to alert the cooking club or a passing student who were right outside the classroom. Afterwards she disposed of the needle and a rubbish bag left by the side of the incinerator and walked to the main entrance to return home, the delinquents as always taunted her as she went past though she ignored their baiting. Ayano proceeded by stalking Senpai home and sneaking out in the middle of the night to carry the instrument case inside before tying up the still unconscious girl to the chair in her basement. Ayano then fell asleep almost immediately upon touching her bed, exhausted from the struggle of getting a schoolgirl's limp body in her house without any help. She dreamed of Kokona, so distraught over her friend's disappearance she hanged herself and senpai falling in love with Ayano instead that night.


	4. Chapter 4

When Saki had first awoken from her slumber the next morning she felt betrayed and terrified, Ayano's 'shyness' from before was clearly coldness and apathy despite her appropriately timed smiles and boundless compliments. The favor she had done for Saki wasn't an act of kindness but a trap in earning her trust, like a pedophile luring in a child with candy, and Saki had fallen for it hard despite the feeling in her gut that told her Ayano was not to be trusted.

 

Of course, she didn't remember much or why she was in a dark room unable to move in the first place, the drug fogging her mind still as she slowly sobered up, body bruised and sore from the way Ayano had carried her body all the way from the school to her house in that box, despite her strength Ayano had most definitely dropped her several times. The confused girl sat in the dark for several hours, head spinning as she eventually tried calling for help in a dizzy voice, her cries were eventually acknowledged as the dead cold eyes of Ayano met hers as the girl walked downstairs and flipped on the basement light. Saki, memories still hazy as she tried remembering the last few hours before she was drugged tried asking her where she was, unable to form completely coherent sentences. Ayano got the message however as she smiled and revealed a butcher's knife and a bag of salt from behind her, Saki seemed to snap into awareness at that.

 

"No, not that. Anything but that! STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Saki screamed at the top of her lungs as the husk of a girl approached.

 

Hours dragged on and eventually days. Ayano chipped away at the girl's mind and body like a sculpture, the blue haired girl flailed and screamed for hours before she ran out of tears and her throat went numb, twitching and convulsing instead as she became more and more submissive, a primitive side of her cutting off her urge to fight back as she was receiving less violent treatment when she stopped reacting. Eventually Ayano went up to sleep and Saki cried herself into unconsciousness until the next day.

 

"Please not again. I'll do anything! NOT AGAIN!" Saki screamed and cried as Ayano showed off an iron and a bottle of vinegar and approached her with that same lifeless gaze.

 

Eventually on the third day Ayano went back to school, feeling her precious little puppet would be ready by Friday if she made use of her time that following night. She paid close attention to her science and psychology classes and at lunchtime she stopped by the outside fountain to talk with Kokona's friends. They all seemed to be avoiding talking to her however which led her to feel like she was missing part of a conversation or a sign, she didn't let it get to her however and went to the rooftop where she made small talk with Mai Waifu. Even the strange loner girl who kept to herself and ignored trends and gossip like they were insects seemed nervous to talk to her. Ayano felt a stone in her stomach like something very bad was in store for her, had one of Saki's friends or someone in the martial arts club said something about her while she was away? Maybe Budo had 'thought about it' finally and decided she was too dangerous to just confront on his own so he was spreading the truth about her among the students. As she thought deep and hard about the behavior of the students however Mai mustered the courage to speak.

 

"Shouldn't you be hanging out with the delinquents?" She asked in a shallow and confused voice. Ayano's eyes bulged. Her? Hanging out with the sneering and snot nosed delinquents? The idea perplexed her to no ends.

 

"No? Why do you say that?" Ayano asked in a half-hearted confused pout. Mai fiddled with her bubblegum pink hair, avoiding looking Ayano in the eyes as she shrugged. The idea was so absurd that unless Mai had daftly come up with it herself she wondered how that rumor had even started.

 

"Well, you've had three days off in two weeks without an explanation, and you do spend a lot of time near the incinerators after school. Some of the other students told me it was because you've become a delinquent. I didn't mean to assume, I'm sorry." She muttered, checking her phone and meeting Ayano in the eye as she shrugged once again and walked past her nervously.

 

Ayano hadn't even taken that into consideration, her behavior was clearly very representative of a delinquent the more she thought about it. Her reputation had only been growing strong before she took that time off to tend to Saki so it hadn't even crossed her mind what message she was sending when she refused to attend to school those days. This was not good, and she had no idea how to fix it. The students won't want to hang around her if they've been told bad things about her, and the only way to fix it is to have them hang around her and trust her well enough to excuse those rumors. Ayano made her way back to class in a bitter mood, her handwriting sloppy and mind buzzing as she thought about what the consequences of this could be. What if Senpai wouldn't love her anymore because of this? This was not acceptable.

 

Eventually after her classes were done she went up to the martial arts room. Sho and Budo were sparring together while Mina seemed to be telling them a funny story, they all had goofy grins on their face that Ayano hadn't seen once in all her time in the club. Stepping inside Mina looked at Ayano and flinched, smiling nervously as Sho and Budo noticed Mina cut off and realize Ayano had entered the room. To her surprise they smiled sincerely at her and greeted her, Ayano smiled back and got changed in the dressing room.

 

"Ayano-chan! It's nice to see you again. We haven't seen you around the school for a few days." Budo greeted her warmly with a passionate look that reached his eyes, it was like his little breakdown had never happened. Ayano realized he was trying to get her to explain herself.

 

"Sorry. Family issues, my grandmother had a stroke and we thought she wouldn't make it. It's nice to see you too." Ayano lied through her teeth. He seemed to accept it however and gave her what seemed like both an encouraging nod and an understanding one at the same time. He didn't press further.

 

"I'm glad you've come early. I haven't assessed you since you first joined three weeks ago and I think it's time we change that. I'd like to spar against you today." He informed her with a voice filled with encouragement. Had he already gone back to petty punishment like he did after Shima died? Her ankle had healed during the last few days to the point the injury was practically gone so unless he was going to directly whale on her he couldn't just prey on her tender spots under the illusion of ignorance. His attitude seemed less staged and more genuine like he used to before everything went downhill for him however, so maybe he'd ruled out the possibility of her being the murderer after all.

 

Budo raised an eyebrow and Ayano realized she hadn't said anything, snapping out of her thoughts she nodded and Sho returned back to his seat. Budo walked to the center of the room and got into a sparring position, Ayano copied his actions and the two began throwing rehearsed punches between each other, Budo mostly on the defensive as he studied her progress and made encouraging comments along the way about how well she was doing. Just what was he playing at? About half an hour later the two finished, huffing slightly as a drop of sweat trickled down his forehead, he smiled fondly at her with an affectionate expression etched on his face.

 

"It seems you've listened well these past few weeks, a few months at this rate and you may be at the same level Sho and Mina are now." He told her with a proud look in his eyes, Sho snorted though didn't comment.

 

"Though, uh, it would be preferred if you didn't use so much force when we're sparring. I'm only assessing you, I didn't need the bruises to prove how well you've done." Budo added sheepishly, rubbing the shoulder she had continuously abused throughout the session in petty revenge for when he had done the same to her tender ankle.

 

He then proceeded to teach them all some more advanced moves for a few more hours, they were probably more for the Sho and Mina's level of expertise as Ayano had trouble catching up with them, but she performed adequately anyhow. At five Budo let them off thirty minutes early and the other two went off to do whatever as Ayano helped out Yuo from the cooking club as she stumbled through the school with countless bags of trash held under her arms. Neither of them said anything as the two of them dumped the bags into the incinerator and Ayano was fine with that, suspecting Yuo had witnessed Ryo's death on her first week of school anyhow and not wanting to Yuo to confirm or blackmail her with that knowledge. The red haired girl thanked her and jogged off, perhaps not wanting to stick around her too long. Ayano turned to leave, eyeing the delinquents as one of their head's jerked up upon seeing her, the boy with a triangular pompadour stood up with a scowl, walking towards her. The other delinquents watched keenly as he gave her an intimidating look, seemingly towering over her despite them being the same height.

 

"Hey you! You're the psycho bitch everyone's been talking about, aren't you?" He shoved her and she had to stop herself from falling back. Ayano gritted her teeth, resisting the urge to drag him into the incinerator for laying a hand on her, his friends snickered at her.

 

"You know, everyone keeps saying to me 'oh, where's that new chick you've been hanging out with, you know, the freak with soulless eyes that looks like she's gonna cut you up if you stare too long?' and I have to tell them to fuck off because I have no idea what they're talking about. I mean, does this look like a book club to you?" He sneered, she stepped back as he grabbed for her. He seemed to chuckle at her reaction.

 

"And you don't even bat an eye do you? Real toughie aren't you, I'm practically shaking in my boots at the mere presence of you." He snarled, getting up close to her face. "Here's a tip though; we don't accept try hard losers like you with your good little grades and clean records trying to pretend you're some badass. Why don't you go and tell your little friends that you made the whole thing up and have no association with us before I smash your pretty little face in and you can really look like a freak." He threatened, moving his hands towards her to either push her again or attack her. Ayano grabbed his wrist impulsively with a sudden force that made him squeak out in surprise, the other delinquents stood and readied themselves for a fight.

 

"Don't touch me, filth." She told him sternly in a completely monotone voice without thinking, releasing his hand as his friends gathered around her threateningly. Reluctance shown in his eyes for a second before his expression become solid again and he growled.

 

"H-how FUCKING dare you lay your hands on me. Do you think this is some kind of a joke?" He stuttered in a furious tone. Pushing past her and waving his hands in the air.

 

"Whatever. WHATEVER. DO WHATEVER THEN! Just piss off already before I run out of patience and snap you in half like a stick you little bitch." He practically yelled, a tinge of red on his face as he completely lost composure, obviously not expected her to resist. The other delinquents huffed and eyed her with a malicious spark of anger in their eyes before returning to their usual spots. One of the girls tsk’ed as she stared back as them with the same cold look.

 

Ayano headed to the school gate, almost tripping over a grim-faced looking boy with a camera in his hand. He stumbled for a few seconds trying to regain his balance before she laid a hand on his arm and steadied him. He gave her a shy smile, Ayano analysed his unfamiliar yet particularly young appearance, face full of freckles and a gap in between his front teeth as anxious blue eyes trained on her. She felt like she had seen him before yet not properly looked at him, she gave him a kind smile however and he started speaking.

 

"Wo-woah. S-sorry about that, I-I'm a little clumsy. Heh." He mumbled shyly, she almost asked him to speak up before deciding that would be rude. She smiled again and nodded, attempting to walk away and get on with her business before he spoke up again.

 

"I-I'm Iwao, I-I'd hate to bother you but I lost m-my camera memory card again and my club leader said-"

 

"I haven't seen it." She interrupted, his smile faltered a bit into a sad look for a moment, teary eyed as he snuggled the camera to his chest like it was an infant and she just told him it only had a few weeks to live. She resumed walking and for a few minutes he just stood there not moving, eventually he called after her to tell him if she did find it and she ignored it.

 

She waited at the gate on her phone until Senpai started walking home, she stalked him to his house until he was home safely before returning to her own, heating a pot full of oil in the kitchen until the surface began boiling. She grabbed it carefully with mittens by the handles and carried it downstairs into the basement. The twitching blue haired girl seemed worse off than she had left her, violently shaking and jerking in the seat before she turned the light on. The moment she did Saki hissed as the light hurt her eyes, she then held the boiling pot in front of her till she got a complete view of what lied in store for it. Saki stared for a moment trying to work out what she was looking at until it clicked and she let out a very high pitched scream in fear and did not stop long after Ayano was done that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god I've been rereading the story and it's a mess. What have I done?


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning Ayano decided Saki was ready to return to school. With bags under her eyes Ayano told the blue haired girl that she would kill Kokona and then herself if she ever wanted to be free of pain. Saki nodded, an empty look in her eyes as she agreed to her fate. Ayano undid the bindings on her arms, fully expecting Saki to run or attack her as soon as she did so though was greeted with surprisingly no resistance. She lifted the mind slave up by grabbing her by the armpits and heaving her into a standing position, the girl was weak from hunger and many hours of abuse and struggled to walk, though began as Ayano began pulling her along as she left the house.

 

The two of them walked to school in silence, Saki walked with her head down and eyes bleak of hope which satisfied Ayano knowing she'd done well. Eventually they got to the school gate and Saki stood there awaiting her further instruction, Ayano quickly retrieved a screw driver from the storage room, pulling her sleeves over her palms to stop fingerprints getting on the object and handing it to the mind slave. When she returned all the students who had arrived were near the lockers and the gym teacher was listening to a blue haired boy as he babbled on about some boring nonsense.

 

"You know what you have to do." She told the lifeless girl in a whisper so Kyoshi, the gym teacher at the gate didn't hear her. Saki didn't answer, grabbing the weapon softly in a robotic movement as walked forward in a delicate stroll, chanting something incoherent as she walked up to Kokona.

 

Ayano walked quickly past her to her locker and began changing shoes and removing books from the locker, some oaf kept knocking her on the shoulder as he quite clumsily changed his footwear without leaning on something. She ignored it however and waited until the slow paced girl reached her target, Kokona quite loudly welcomed her back in a joyous tone until a scream erupted from her throat and Saki quite obviously made her mark. The other students nearby her let out a surprised yell and the ones who were not rushed around to investigate, Ayano did the same as to not stick out like a sore thumb and watched as a photography student snapped a shot and a martial arts student pushed past the gathering people. Saki quickly plunged the tool into her throat and stabbed herself repeatedly until she too fell to the ground, dead.

 

What happened next was a flurry of madness, students rushed away from the scene; some towards the bodies, some to their favorite teacher and some out of the school. Ayano was pushed to the side as countless other students fled the area, once regaining her sense of bearing she ran upstairs into the martial arts room, thinking it would be a logical choice as her fellow journeyman level martial arts club members and another student not part of the club did the same. Sho slammed the doors open upon reaching the top of the stairs and they all gathered in a corner as Budo and two other scrawny pupils soon entered, the other pitiful students obviously hoping for protection with the stronger classmates as they grabbed for them bailing their eyes out. Everyone in the room looked shaken up except for the exception of Ayano and Budo and she could hear teachers and other students rushing past the room with a sense of urgency.

 

Eventually the panic died down and the crying started. Mina puked all over the clean wooden floor and the stray students cried as Sho tried comforting them while not breaking down to no avail. Budo was shaking a little as adrenaline surely must of been surging through him but otherwise seemed undeterred. They all stayed there until the police arrived and all the students were told to stand outside the school as the cops investigated the crime scene, Ayano found Senpai with tears running down his check and tried pushing down the knot in her chest as she wanted to rush over to pat him on the back and comfort him, thinking twice of it however as she realized a crime scene would be a very unromantic place for their second meeting.

 

Eventually a teacher starting pointing fingers at the pupils as the police singled out and started asking questions to the students with lockers closest to where the crime took place. Once they were done a tall plump man with a mustache strolled over to the students and told them their parents were free to pick them up unless they had something else to add to the investigation. Everyone cleared out and Ayano followed as senpai exited the school gate with the shakes, she stalked him home and eventually returned to her own peacefully.

 

Popping on the computer when she got home she printed the posts Senpai had left that day regarding the incident and added it to her text posts from senpai scrap book she had composed. She wrote a few posts of her own describing the tragic event to keep up the guise of caring and started a discussion with Yuna as she spilled her guts about how devastated she was, more of Kokona's friends joined in and she found herself consoling them once again like she did on the day of the party. They began saying how sorry they were for listening to all the nasty rumors about her and she left the computer to go start dinner. Once she was done she went back online and was notified she had two unread messages by Budo and Info-chan.

 

Priorities called for her to open Info-chan's messages first, but knowing it was unlikely to be good news and not wanting to spoil her good mood she opened the message from the martial arts master instead.

 

<Masuta Budo> Hey.

 

<Masuta Budo> Are you on?

 

<Masuta Budo> I saw you commenting before...

 

<Masuta Budo> ...

 

<Masuta Budo> ?

 

Ayano with a stroke of curiosity texted back a reply as she launched a game of minesweeper and waited for him to reply. In her three weeks of knowing him she had not once seen him online and wondered the sudden change of heart. She didn't even get a chance to inevitability lose before he quickly responded.

 

<Aishi Ayano> Srry was preparing dinner, what's up? ^-^

 

<Masuta Budo> I wanted to apologize for how I've been acting lately towards you. I never would of expected Saki of all people to be the one behind the murders. You were just new and a little different and I took out my frustrations on you. I'm sorry.

 

<Aishi Ayano> It's ok. I understand what you've been going thru. :)

 

<Masuta Budo> Okay. If it's alright if I ask. What were you showing Shima before, well, you know?

 

<Aishi Ayano> Ahh. >-< I lent her a manga. She was embarrassed about the contents so I didn't want to give it to her in the club room.

 

<Masuta Budo> Oh? Really? What was it called?

 

Ayano's eyes rolled over to her collection, most of them were torn at the edges or sticky. She's found them around the school grounds at various points, though hadn't bothered to read many. One of them with the most damage was an erotic novel with a cover that had a girl with a flower in her mouth. She really didn't want to sound like a pervert by naming it, but she had said it was embarrassing enough for Shima to avoid receiving it in public.

 

<Masuta Budo> ??

 

<Aishi Ayano> Srry. It was Cherry Touch. >->

 

<Masuta Budo> Oh really? That's sort of lewd isn't it? Shima always told us manga was just trash on paper, especially hentai. I'm surprised she'd have asked for it.

 

<Masuta Budo> I wonder what the police thought when they saw that with her body...

 

Ayano bit her lip, she'd got caught on a lie. She gazed at the ceiling in thought for a few seconds before refocusing on the computer. She didn't know much about Shima simply because she'd never cared, she noted to avoid bringing up Shima's personal interests in the future.

 

<Masuta Budo> Last question. What happens to your ankle?

 

She sighed in annoyance, rubbing her temple. Saki hadn't had the foot injury that the killer was supposed to have from leaping down a two story building and she'd conveniently showed up to martial arts the day after with it. She should of just told him she'd seen the killer and fled through the window, now she was making herself sound like an accomplice.

 

<Aishi Ayano> I went to the bathroom after meeting her and slipped on wet tiles. I ended up spraining it so I went home early. Gtg soon I think the veggies are done. owo

 

<Masuta Budo> Alright. Goodnight Ayano.

 

<Aishi Ayano> Night. ^u^

 

True to her word, she checked up on the meal and served it up on a china plate. She ate in peace before cleaning up the dishes which were sitting in a messy pile on the counter for some days. She wondered what Senpai had for dinner and if he liked it before neatly putting the dishes back in their respective cupboards and pulling out the mop and bucket to clean the basement. When she was finished and there were no signs of any blue haired girl living in the room she headed back to her room to put on her pajamas, only finally when she did that she remembered the text from Info-chan and went to her computer to check it. Pulling up the screen she was introduced to a picture of a curly haired girl wearing an apron and the traditional pink cooking club bonnet over her hair, she seemed to have a smile on her face as her dress twirled in the air and she held two dishes with teacups on them. There was no explanation or text underneath the picture and she sent info-chan a question mark before the opposite party responded with yet another picture of a purple fancy haired girl with an irritated look on her face and a grinning mask in her hand.

 

Confused and tired of playing games Ayano snatched up her phone and rang up her provider. She seemed to realize for a second that she had never spoken to the other girl however and was not surprised when the number didn't go through. Another message popped up on her chat and she rolled her eyes and responded.

 

<Info-chan> No need to get hasty now.

 

<Aishi Ayano> Who are they and why do they concern me?

 

<Info-chan> Quick to the point as ever. They're your next rivals.

 

<Aishi Ayano> Excuse me?

 

<Info-chan> Did you think Osana and Kokona were your only threats? Good work on that by the way, I had no idea what the girl was planning until after your little... incident regarding her.

 

<Aishi Ayano> Stop wasting my time.

 

<Info-chan> Very well. The two individuals are Kaede Tanaka and Rika Nakamura. Kaede, the girl in the first picture is the founding cooking club president and will be arriving again next week, the details of her absence is up for grabs for a generous price. Rika, the founding drama club president has just taken a few weeks off for a family vacation and will be arriving at the same time. Kaede has shown interest in your senpai numerous times before your arrival and Rika... well she seems determined to make him her servant by the way she acts around him. Which isn't a bad idea come to think of it...

 

<Aishi Ayano> They'll be gone by the end of the week.

 

<Info-chan> I'd be careful if I were you. Anymore pressure and your precious senpai is going to snap like a twig, and that's saying even if you can pull off any more of your stunts with the cops crawling around the school.

 

<Aishi Ayano> I'll do what I need to.

 

<Info-chan> I know.

 

Ayano logged off her computer after that and elected to play videogames to calm the twisting angry knot in her stomach. There was always something that got in the way; complications, mistakes, witnesses, other girls. It all just piled up quicker then she could solve it and it irritated her relentlessly to have to deal with it. On saying that however, Ayano knew it'd only make confessing her feelings to senpai even more worth it.

 

She just had to be patient.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm working on some real life stuff right now that may put me off writing for a few days. I've got a few chapters already written to keep me going for the next few days, if that dries up though I'm not sure what the new chapter speed will be.


	6. Chapter 6

The next Monday Ayano arrived to school in a chipper mood. She noticed the two new faces entering from the gates and the other students flocking to them with excitement, particularly the cooking and drama club members. Rika, the drama girl Info-chan had informed her about seemed both pleased about the other students flocking around her and unwilling to show it, an obvious smile pulled at the edge of her lips as she shook her followers off. Kaede greeted her fellow friends with enthusiasm, giggling cutely as she listened to something one of the girls said. Ayano watched carefully with an invasive gaze, curious to see how the other students interacted with the new girls before realizing she was staring and getting back to her locker.

 

Her books were scattered on the floor and her locker was wide open, during the other students panic she had been forced to drop her belongings and immediately run, luckily it looked like nothing had been taken, though police must have quickly skimmed through the open contents of the locker as the stuff inside looked hastily removed and put back. Ayano was quick to correct the error however as she quickly stuffed the books back inside and reorganized them. While she was doing so however she was bumped forward as another student seemed quick to get to the opposite side of her, the side away from the clumsy student no less.

 

"Ops, sorry miss." Ayano heard come from the girl's mouth, looking up she noticed it was Kaede. Ayano gave her a patient smile and closed her locker, walking away to her first class so she could scheme in peace while waiting for the other students to arrive.

 

"Hey, Ayano-chan!" Came a familiar voice however as she tried to leave. Ayano froze, wishing desperately to flee upon hearing his confident voice. Why was it always him? She turned to face him as Budo jogged towards her, the same genuine smile on his face as always.

 

"I just wanted to let you know since I usually don't see you before practice but now that the murderer's been discovered we're changing back to our regular times. You're always welcome to come early however." He told her cheerfully. Ayano nodded and studied his face carefully in surprise, this was the happiest she'd ever seen him since the murders started. He must be happy under the allusion the murderer was caught, though it seemed strange to her that he wasn't upset over the fact that the supposed murderer died at their own hands and not by justice.

 

He went off again to the martial art's room chipper and upbeat as ever. She on the other hand went to her classes, studying more science and biology once again until the day was over. Exams had been pushed back to the current week as during the commotion apparently someone had misplaced every single one of the student exams before they were marked, she paid close attention to the less productive classes such as English and math so she'd get a good grade. She also devised a plan to have one of her rivals eliminated through poisoning after learning about the barium acetate in the science lab, though quickly scrapped it as both the classroom was heavily monitored ever since students started disappearing left right and center and she was supposed to get rid of her competition peacefully.

 

After classes an announcement rang out telling all students and teachers to arrive by announcement room for a quick message from the police. The same fat moustached man from the prior Friday stood next to the school principle as he read something from a paper, spit flying at what seemed like a hundred miles per hour out of his mouth as he spoke with a gruff voice. Ayano barely made out what was said and so did everyone else apparently, a delinquent who had for some ungodly reason chosen to come and hear the announcement rudely yelled at him to speak up. Eventually after enough mumbling he handed the paper to the principle and she read it herself, rolling her eyes.

 

"Miyu Saki's fingerprints were not found on any of the other victim's bodies. She is still a prime suspect however and the police force urges you to give us any information about the killer or any other possible candidates. You may now leave school grounds, that is all."

 

Students looked at one enough with horror, some visible shaking and on the verge of tears, others with their teeth clenched and eyes burning. Ayano noticed most of Kokona's friends were looking particularly miserable at that moment, the martial arts and photography students were looking horrified at the prospect of another killer and one of the light music club members inexplicitly burst out in tears. The school principle cleared her throat, nervously licking her lips with a regretful look on her face as she realized that was the wrong thing to say, she spoke up again.

 

"On saying that however, the police have agreed to monitor the school during school hours and will have at least one policeman on patrol on every story of the building. If you feel unsafe or have seen another student doing something inappropriate or dangerous you may report to them. Once again however, lack of fingerprints does not mean lack of evidence, there is no reason to suspect there is another killer among us."

 

Like water on a campfire all the negative energy that had clouded the room fizzled and slowly dissipated. The students cleared out to go to their club activities and help clean the school, Ayano thought about going to her club activities, but decided against it knowing she'd have to think up a plan for getting rid of her current threats. There wasn't a lot of choices and they weren't hard to pull off, she could get them expelled or publically disgraced and it'd be all fine and dandy for a while, but she had to play it safe as well, if she got caught slipping a cheat sheet into one of their books she'd be expelled and if she called one of them out on something she'd have to face the repercussions of being nasty.

 

She pulled out her phone, trailing her nail along the casing of the phone as she thought. Her feet moving instantaneously to the cooking room as she watched from the doorway as the cooking club members oblivious to her presence fawned over the new girl. She quickly snapped of shot of the girl's face and sent it to Info-chan when Kaede walked to the table with what looked like fruit salad and butterfly frosted cupcakes. Ayano headed off to the drama club when her phone buzzed and a message came from her provider.

 

<Info-chan> Kaede Tanaka, high reputation among fellow students, has a crush on senpai. Founder and president of the cooking club and incapable of self-defence, rivals with Rika Nakamura and will compete for senpai's love against her on Friday.

 

<Aishi Ayano> No additional information?

 

<Info-chan> Not for free there isn't.

 

Not wanting to spend her afternoon creeping around other girls on her knees she rolled her eyes and stuffed her phone back into her pocket. The drama club leader and members weren't in the club room and when she went to go find them they seemed to be in a heated argument with the art club for whatever reason, Rika was wearing a red mask and pointing to one of her members as they held up a white mask that seemed to have a multitude of bright colours sloshed all over the front of it for the other students to see. Unable to capture the girl's face on her phone Ayano walked off to the martial arts room, when she arrived there Mina and Budo were sparring intensely. Mina seemed to be fighting aggressively while the boy blocked the strikes swiftly and as she watched at the doorway for a good ten minutes she observed as blow after blow Budo knocked down the girl's defences and eventually knocked her off her feet after a swipe to the legs. They were both unhurt although a little breathless but eventually after settling down Budo helped the girl up and Ayano felt a little of awe after watching the match.

 

She'd always felt secure around Budo under the impression she could quickly strike him down somewhere secluded if he got too dangerous for his own good. She suddenly felt very foolish however and wondered if it'd be possible discarding him even if he was absolutely off guard, he did have very good reaction timing if the fight was anything to go by however and he always seemed to be aware of his surroundings. He was much more valuable and dangerous then she had initially thought and she realized he could be an important asset to learn from should she stick around.

 

"Oh, hey Ayano-chan. I didn't see you there, were you watching our spar session?" His voice snapped her back to reality and she realized she'd been staring. He was smiling cheerfully and wiping sweat off his forehead when he noticed her and she nodded. A silence filed the room for a few seconds and she realized she should probably say something for once.

 

"Uh, yeah. It was pretty cool." She told him lamely. His eyes seemed to brighten at her approval however and his smile seemed to spread even further. Mina sat back into her cushion with an exhausted sigh and ran her fingers through her damp hair. Ewwww, no wonder the room always smells like sweat and pain.

 

"Great! I hope you're pumped up for today's lesson then because I'm moving you on to some more advanced moves." Ayano sighed in relief. She'd been on beginner and novice training for what seemed like decades aside from the occasional lesson for the other two students and she was beginning to feel the urge to snap his legs if he didn't give her something interesting to do soon. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sho sign something to him and he seemed to remember something.

 

"Oh! Almost forgot, we're having a movie night at my place tonight and I wanted to know if you'd like to join us?" Budo asked her with a hint of excitement in his tone. Ayano though she misheard him or he said it wrong for a second before half a minute passed and he made no attempt to correct himself. A sleepover, with a girl who he'd suspected murdered both his friends literally a week ago, not to mention it was a Monday night. Was he fucking delusional.

 

"Sure?" Ayano found herself saying in almost a startled tone. The worth of his trust coming to mind again despite the dozens of excuses piling up in her mind. She definitely didn't want to be eating instant noodles or her beloved burnt bentos again tonight, but she still felt reluctant to be going to his house of all places.

 

He continued on with pointless yabbering about what to bring and a bunch of questions asking if she was allergic to anything until eventually he ran out of pointless things to say and began teaching her the promised advanced moves he had told her about before. Mina and Sho seemed to be excited, suggesting movies and criticising each other's poor choices like a bunch of chatty monkeys until it was time to leave the school grounds. Once they finally did Ayano was sent the address on her phone and with a little irritation packed her bags and road her bike to the house. Budo opened the door to her and greeted her warmly, she was almost unable to recognize him out of a school or martial arts uniform and he looked so vulnerable and normal without it she had to remind herself what he was capable of before she succumbed to the urge to throttle him.

 

"Hey Ayano-chan! Glad you could make it, Sho's in the living room right now. As soon as Mina gets here we're going to start the movie." He stepped to the side and invited her in. A sweet scent came from the kitchen and she walked inside, placing her bag on the couch as Sho stared with a bored expression at a chess game he and Budo must have started.

 

Mina took an hour to arrive. Apparently Budo was pretty good at chess and beat Sho once or twice in that time, Sho on the other hand was exceptional and kept checkmating him within the first five to ten minutes. Despite Budo's constant asking if she'd like to join in she refused and he always left it at that until the next game. Once Mina arrived however Budo invited her inside and packed up the game, they had rice balls for dinner courtesy of Budo's mother and all curled up under a blanket together while Sho put a movie in the video player he'd brought along that they all must of agreed on except for her. Mina seemed to be on the verge of sleep and kept leaning her entire weight on Ayano for the entire duration of the movie, the movie itself was like a crappy rip off of the karate kid filmed in some guy’s basement that had her fellow martial arts club members on the edge of their seats as they sucked up every cliché word that spewed from the deranged looking protagonist's mouth.

 

Eventually Mina inevitably fell asleep, though thankfully not on Ayano. As the time got close to midnight Sho drifted off as well and Budo put in another equally terrible movie for them to watch. Ayano herself was bored to tears and tried to fall asleep herself to save her the fate of going through the same thing again. A quarter way through the movie however just as she was beginning to feel sleep gather beneath her eyes Budo suddenly began stroking her hand, confused she looked at his face to see a blush creeping on it and began feeling a twinge of annoyance and embarrassment. What on Earth was he doing?

 

He didn't look at her and she didn't react. He clenched her hand at multiple intervals during the moving whenever a particularly tense scene came up between the dorky protagonist and the antagonist but otherwise didn't seem to do anything else. The movie didn't turn out as badly as Ayano thought it would, the awful dialogue and cringe worthy storytelling actually being unintentionally funny enough for her to sit through it all the way, not that Budo's creepy longing stares didn't help her stay awake no less. Eventually the credits rolled up and they were left with an uncomfortable silence, Budo cleared his throat like he wanted to say something and Ayano half expected him to bring up the online conversation she had brought up the other day in that dead lifeless tone he had used after Shima died.

 

"A-ayano. I, uh, can I call you that? Not Ayano-chan just Ayano?" He asked her, she shrugged and nodded in reluctant agreement which seemed to encourage him on.

 

"I was wondering if you like to... go on a date with me to the coffee shop this Wednesday after school?" What. Ayano almost flinched back in surprise. His face was a beet red yet and he looked nervous yet he spoke with the same unwavering confidence like he always did. Great, she'd gone and given him Stockholm syndrome, congratulations Ayano you're an idiot.

 

She herself went red in the face from second-hand embarrassment. If she'd known earlier he was enamoured with her she could have used it heavily to her advantage, now it would just be liability when she refused. She spluttered out incoherent words in surprise and he seemed even more embarrassed than previously. Gears turning in her head, she realized however this still could be an advantage, Info-chan had subliminally told her there could be more students after Senpai's heart. If it was just the cooking club leader and drama club leader she could just break up with Budo after dealing with them, if not she could keep him around and use him to her advantage. She wondered if she told him another girl was picking on her if he'd go off at them or not, probably.

 

Ayano wanted no one other than senpai and he would be hers whether he chooses so or not. A pawn wasn't going to change that. She accepted Budo's invitation and watched as his eyes grew bright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing against romance fanfics and not that this is a romance fic but I have no idea what I'm doing lol.


	7. Chapter 7

Ayano dreamt of a black haired Japanese boy with grey eyes and a kind smile, this was unusual as Ayano never dreamt, empty nothingness was the only thing she had ever experienced after closing her eyes. What was even more unusual however was that she felt something strange about the boy, having feeling nothing previously she wasn't sure what it was. Her chest felt tight and checks hot, she wondered if she was sick before dismissing it immediately, pain was associating with sickness and she felt no pain. Unsureness gripped her as she pulled herself out of bed, it was her first day today at her new school and she couldn't have the day off sick even if she was running a slight painless fever.

 

She got dressed in her black and red coloured uniform, blushed her hair back into a ponytail and grabbing some new exercise books she'd have to put in her locker when she received it. She prepared herself some sushi for lunch and had an egg muffin for breakfast, once she was finished she rode on her bike through the town to her school and entered the gate with a solid and empty expression. Her parents were away for a few weeks in America for a reason not specified and she was indifferent to their absence, her mother was always supportive and energetic and her father anxious and uncertain. They cared for her deeply however and gave her the best opportunities they could provide despite the fact she couldn't care less whether she played in the trash all day or went to a well-known and high received school. While walking she bumped into something and tripped, landing on her bottom, after a few seconds a voice came from above and she looked up to see a boy offering his hand to her.

 

"I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going. Do you need a hand?" He offered her, her eyes widen when she noticed he was the split image of the boy from her dreams. Not only that, but she felt a strong desire, a craving to make him hers. Emotions she had never felt pooled up inside her and she wanted something for the first time in her life, him.

 

"Are you okay? You didn't knock your head did you?" He asked after a few seconds of her gaping at him. She shook herself back to reality and finally responded.

 

"No, I'm fine, thank you." She responded with genuine warmth and took his hand, pulling herself up.

 

"Oh, I'm glad then. I was worried you had hurt yourself. I- uh better get to class now."

 

"You're so kind. I better do the same." Ayano told him, watching dreamily as her he walked way. She felt complete, like she finally knew what it was like to be human now.

 

"What took you so long!" Suddenly the feeling was gone again. A blond long haired girl approached him with an obnoxiously irritated voice and Ayano felt something else she couldn't put her finger on overtake her, after a few seconds of pondering she decided it was rage.

 

"Oh my gosh! Why do you always keep me waiting, you've done this ever since we were children." The girl huffed giving him a pouty face.

 

"I'm sorry Osana..." He told the girl with bright stockings with a sincere tone. Ayano felt a panic surge her, a childhood friend? They must know each other pretty well, was she a threat to her and Senpai's newfound love life?

 

"Not that I WANT to be with you, I just can't live with a healthy conscience knowing you'd get lost if I didn't walk with you to class of course, baka!" The girl defended herself and Ayano felt mixed, either she was genuinely mean or a tsundere, the later was obviously more likely however and she felt an urge to stalk her.

 

Senpai and Osana walked off to their classes and Ayano stood there with a strange feeling in her gut, eventually she left to go to the entrance ceremony where the newcomers such as herself were given their timetables and given a brief explanation of the guidelines and rules of the school and who the teachers were. It was a new year and a fresh school, the teacher who was giving them all this new information informed them about the afterschool classes and suggested they join one after some careful consideration. After a whole lot of pointless information and nervous looking freshmen asking daft questions she was lead to her classroom and finally allowed to start in peace. While she was there she was introduced to basic human biology and got to know Mina Rai, the girl sitting in front of her that she was instructed to talk to if she didn't understand something they had learnt last year.

 

At lunchtime Ayano went off to check on senpai though couldn't locate him anywhere, thinking he must of been at one of the clubs she slyly peaked into each of the rooms for him while observing the countless benefits of joining them. After a while she stopped and went out to the fountain to eat her lunch when her eyes caught sight of him. Her heart began beating furiously and she looked away as he smiled at her, another sight met her eyes however and she saw Osana walking towards him. Unaware if she could control her anger while in the same room as her she decided to eat on the rooftops, sitting next to a blue haired girl and scoffing down her lunch as her phone suddenly vibrated. That was when she was introduced to Info-chan, a mysterious provider who encouraged the already forming ideas of homicide in Ayano's mind, she told her that she'd provide information about the other students and that Osana was planning on confessing her love to her Senpai next week and how she wouldn't mind if something were to happen to the blond haired student.

 

Once their conversation was done Ayano decided to take a photo of another student and see if she was true to her word. She looked at the blue haired student staring purposeless off to the sky next to her and decided she'd be a good candidate. Pulling out her phone and focusing the camera on the other girl she took a picture without so much as a flinch from the other and sent it to Info-chan. A few minutes passed and she was beginning to doubt Info-chan's word when suddenly she got a reply.

 

<Info-chan> Kuu Dere, no reputation among students, no love interest and not part of any clubs. Could be described as having an apathetic personality and is incapable of self-defence. Has never been witnessed exhibiting emotions.

 

Ayano suddenly felt a little more relieved knowing that she had a valuable ally and headed off back to class. She had physical education for the last half of her classes and watched with slight amusement as some occult club boy named Chojo performed rather crudely when the teacher introduced everyone to a game of basketball, she was less amused however when the teacher instructed her to take him to the side and teach him how to play properly. She told him what he needed to know in a clear and straight forward manner yet he still insisted on running like a crippled goose, after a while he eventually had the common sense to at least feel embarrassed about his performance. She sighed and rubbed her temple in mild irritation though said nothing, he spluttered apologies and eventually grew frustrated with himself as well. After another set of countless instructions he ignored and failed to perform eventually he opened his mouth to retort as she told him once again it was incorrect.

 

"Y-yeah. Well, I may be b-bad at sports but I doubt you can summon a demon!" He blurted and she looked at him with bewilderment. She asked him to explain and he embarrassedly shook his head pretending he hadn't said anything until eventually caving in and inviting her to visit the occult club after class. Ayano accepted his offer, curiosity overriding her common sense that he was making up rubbish to excuse his sloppiness.

 

The rest of the lesson was a long and painful one thanks to Chojo, but eventually it came to an end and like promised she visited the occult club room after swiftly checking in with Senpai right as Osana was nagging him about something. When she got there the occult club leader was placing a ring of salt on top of some spread newspapers, Ayano was baffled that they were more concerned about the rug then the fact they were attempting to summon a demon but said nothing, once the leader was finished she finally noticed Ayano.

 

"Hello... you're one of the new students aren't you? Have you come to join the occult club?" She asked in a low voice, Chojo sheepishly told her she'd invited Ayano, partially explaining the circumstances and the leader nodded wordlessly to him.

 

Ayano shut the door behind her and stepped inside, the darked haired girl introduced herself as Oka and explained to her that every day for four weeks they're going to sacrifice something of personal value to a love demon and by the end of five weeks if the demon accepts the items it'll make any love confessions or small wishes the ritualists say within twenty-four hours come true. Ayano had to admit while it sounded like something a fifth grader made up she couldn't help but feel a compulsion to try it herself.

 

Ayano watched as Oka got out a metal cooking tray and the occult club members all placed items in it. Most of it was stuff like little amounts of paper money and plastic jewellery, though there were a few odd additions such as a small chewed on pencil, an egg sandwich and a freshly gnawed on dog toy. Once Oka was done she set all of the contents on fire and watched for a few moments as smoke filled the room and she started coughing, this carried on for a while before someone finally got the decency to open the doors and put out the fire. Nothing more than burnt crisps and melted plastic at the bottom of the tray, they began reciting lines of gibberish before casually sneaking in a name or pleads about getting a good grades and other nonsense. Ayano's blood ran cold when she heard Oka sheepishly say her Senpai's name before continuing with her chants.

 

Eventually once they were done they began reading, Oka seemed to be making some effort to entertain Ayano as tried showing her some ridiculous theory she had compiled that the Basu sisters were supernatural beings or something. She was soon to excuse herself however as she felt the urge to check up on senpai again, though told her she might come back soon. After a quick jog around to the fountain she found Senpai still sitting on the fountain talking to Osana shyly, she watched him as the concerned feeling in her gut dissolved and realized what she had to do. There would be difficulty in disposing of Osana but she did have till next week to dispose of her and Oka was just sitting around in a room ready to be killed. It would be good practice after all.

 

Ayano left the doorway and returned back to the occult club room a solid ten minutes later, waiting outside the doorway as the members eventually exited with curious glances as they left to return home. Oka came out last and Ayano told her there was something she needed to know about the ritual knife, they went back inside the room and shut the doors. She held up the knife for her to see and Oka must of felt something was off because she backed over to the doors slightly. Ayano swiftly approached her and with a quick flash proceeded to gut the poor girl. Blood splattered all over the walls and a wispy black gas came from the knife as she attacking, Oka's face frozen in a silent scream as her entrails fell out. Once she was sure the girl was dead Ayano placed the body in the middle of the ritual circle purely for the sake of irony and wiped off everywhere she thought she had put fingerprints on. She hesitantly considered putting the ritual knife back in the skull but quickly thought better of it.

 

As she left the room to go to the shower room when she heard a frightened gurgle of words come from behind her, the girl from the occult club with giant skulls in her hair must have come back to talk to Oka and seen her dripping from head to toe in blood. Still equipped with the knife however, she rushed at the girl and tore her throat out with the sharp knife. The girl limply fell to her knees, unable to scream or speak as her vocal cords had been clean cut out. More black mist fizzled from the blade and Ayano left the corpse where it was and ran off towards the bathrooms, cleaning up and disposing of her bloody uniform and the most likely expensive knife in the incinerator.

 

Eventually one of the teacher's discovered a corpse and called the police. The students were made to stay as the police investigated the scene. Eventually unable to perform an arrest they were allowed to leave and Ayano decided to follow Senpai so he could safely return home. When she returned to school the next day the occult club were quick on her heels about the incident, they had all seen as she waited till the room cleared out and then presumably attacked Oka. As the club was forced to shut down they began mingling with the other students and telling them of her deeds, her reputation hit rock bottom within hours and she eventually had to step in before someone told the police and they testified as witnesses.

 

So she picked them off one by one. On Tuesday Chojo who had taken a liking to standing on the rooftops near the railings without his Occult club to attend to was pushed off with his shoes ripped off and left next to the rail, it was classed as a suicide and possible murder. On Wednesday Daku who had joined the computer club and had been using the hardware to play horror games and research the paranormal was electrocuted when Ayano purposely spilt water all over the equipment. Kokuma on Thursday made the mistake of bathing in the shower room while Ayano was in there and was held underwater and drowned. On Friday Shin who had begun hanging out with the teacher's pets near the fountain left his food unattended and was slipped some poisonous berries that grew outside the school into his food, she was ready to start working overtime when she saw Yuo catch her doing it though decided against it when the redhead winked at her.

 

In this time, she had joined the martial arts club and become acquainted with her fellow members, began reading some of the manga left lying around the school and made no attempt to fix her reputation. Students were wary around her and suspicious but not wanting to invoke her wraith. She was hell bent on getting her Senpai and was prepared to cut through anyone who threatened their love. Info-chan seemed delighted by the caused mayhem and encouraged her on further, making her certain that next week she would eliminate Osana.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This should of been the first chapter but when I started writing this fanfic I wasn't really aware there'd be more than one or two chapters. It was just going to be a oneshot where Ayano would be all stabby and got served but I took a liking to it and decided to expand it. This is the occurrences of the first week anyhow.


	8. Chapter 8

Morning arrived the next morning and Ayano was the first to wake up. Eventually they had to wake up Shin and Mina the night before so they didn't wake up with stiff necks the morning, they all slept in the living room including Budo despite being perfectly capable of sleeping in his own bed, everyone quickly went off back to sleep however so there was no point in kicking up a fuss. It wasn't long though however Ayano was awoken again by a soft noise in a few rooms away, being a light sleeper this wasn't an unusual occurrence for her, but as she was in an unfamiliar household it was best to make sure Budo wasn't reeving up the chainsaw to chop her up or something equally threatening.

 

She staggered to her feet and noticed Budo and Shin were gone, Mina was snoring similar to a grizzly bear growling at prey all tucked up in her sleeping bag while the two boy's makeshift beds were cold. Ayano stumbled to her feet with only the light from another room to guide her before she grabbed her phone and searched through the house for the source of the previous noise. Having not explored the house before she quietly opened every door in the house, Budo's room was covered head to toe in inspirational posters and karate magazines but was otherwise undisturbed, his parents room and the bathroom were clean and organized yet once again lacked the presence of the missing boys. She started feeling a ping of concern and annoyance as she looked through the house and outside once again before admitting defeat and realizing they must have left the house. Ayano sat down on the couch in the living room where Budo had slept since he didn't have a sleeping bag and noticed his phone was sitting on the armchair. Glancing around Ayano decided what he didn't know couldn't hurt him and flipped through it briefly.

 

His phone wasn't exactly the model of modern technology but it was in the very least a small and clunky smartphone. It was filled with selfies taken with the other martial arts members, action music, half-baked beat-em-up games found on the appstore and expired reminders to study he had put on his phone calendar and forgotten. When she looked through his messages she noticed they were very suspiciously empty, like he had been deleting them on a scheduled basis. The few he had kept were discussions with Mina and Sho about the upcoming movie night, lectures from his parents about studying and condolences to Juku and Rina's parents. His friend's messages didn't go past the following Sunday which confirmed he was deleting them; this was suspicious but not entirely out of the blue. After all, if Ayano had some psycho murderer on the loose in her school and her father went through her messages and found out she'd probably end up getting moved to another school. Although on saying that it also wasn't unlikely he had predicted she might go through his messages and had something to hide, in any case she couldn't determine whether or not this was likely so she decided to push aside her thoughts for now.

 

Almost on cue the front door swung open and she jumped in surprise, slamming the phone down on the cushion in fright. She turned to look at the invader and saw the two missing boys enter the house carrying a bag of groceries each. Instinctively she let out a quiet breath of relief which must have been caught by Budo as his eyes flickered towards her with a pleasant smile.

 

"Oh, good morning Ayano! Sho and I went out and got some food for breakfast, if there's one thing Sho can do it's whip up an awesome breakfast! He's going to teach me to make pancakes." Budo stated warmly like Sho was some five-star chief that bestowed upon him the gift to cook.

 

"Morning... dear? Pancakes are a bit simple aren’t they, isn't it a bit patronizing to be taught how to make a beginner’s dish?" She said, heart beating fast as she pondered whether he had seen her flipping through his phone. Budo looked almost embarrassed for a second and Sho shot Ayano a dirty look as if she had just suggested he likes rolling in mud or something equally scandalous. Oops.

 

"Culinary isn't exactly my proudest accomplishment. I'm learning though!" Budo said in a forced tone like he didn't believe what he was saying.

 

They carried their bags to the kitchen and Ayano heard one of them get the frying pan out. Rubbing her eyes Ayano headed to the bathroom where she changed into the school uniform she had packed in her bag the night before. Mina groaned loudly as she sat up, awoken by their conversation and the sizzling sound of pancake batter on a frying pan. Despite Mina always giving off a calculating exterior she slept and awoke like a dying beast. While Mina walked off to change as well Ayano watched from the hallway as the boys prepared in the kitchen, Budo and Sho were talking loudly and joking around with each other like pals about who knows what and Ayano started realizing very quickly why culinary wasn't his 'proudest accomplishment' as he casually spilled the mixture all over the tiles and repeatedly forgot about the burning pancakes as he chatted. Sho every now and again would snap back to reality and tell Budo they were getting distracted, but it always led them to the same fate of getting off task until Mina came into the kitchen and scolded them harshly.

 

Eventually although burned to hell, the pancakes were done. Mina snatched the ones with the least injury while the boys were forced to scoff down the ashy remains of their meal. Unwanted to force such evil into her body but deciding it would be offensive to put them to justice and ditch them like a self-respecting human being, Ayano slathered hers in all the breakfast condiments she could get her hands on. After a good fifteen minutes of suffering they all walked to school with churning stomachs, being an hour late they all headed off to their classes immediately and Ayano studied absentmindedly through the class thinking about the past day's events and her new opponents.

 

Lunchtime arrived and Ayano decided it was time for a bit of thinking. Following the drama club leader around a few good opportunities and possibilities arose but none clicked with her, she could have her expelled for cheating on an exam or have her crushed with some heavy drama assets, maybe even simply threating her would be adequate. But then again if the police were really nailing down on the case like Info-chan implied and they finally got someone competent working on the scene it wouldn't be a clever idea to start up a ruckus. She couldn't be seen slipping exam papers into Rika's desk or squashing girls with heavy machinery, there's already enough evidence on her that can be linked to the murders without some hotshot detective putting together the story. On the thought about stuff that she can get caught doing however Ayano was struck with an idea that compelled her to pull out her phone.

 

<Aishi Ayano> What info have you got on Kaede Tanaka?

 

<Info-chan> I've sent you it already.

 

<Aishi Ayano> No, the 'other' information you spoke about.

 

<Info-chan> Ah. I've been waiting for you to get around to that. I'll tell you, for a price...

 

<Aishi Ayano> Go on.

 

<Info-chan> Eight panty shots and the secret is all yours.

 

<Aishi Ayano> This better be worth it or I'm coming for you next.

 

<Info-chan> Oh trust me, it will be.

 

Grumbling she put her phone away and returned to class, she had gym last which meant getting changed in the gym room which meant girls being stark naked. After lunch break ended she walked straight to the outside showers, all the girls in the second block were changing into school clothes, as she quickly changed out of hers as well she pulled her phone out from her pocket, set it to video and leaned it against the lockers so it'd face the other girls without drawing in suspicion while she changed her shoes. She waited till everyone had changed and left the room before she picked it up and hit stop on the video, sending it to info-chan with a disgusted feeling.

 

<Aishi Ayano> How many panty shots is this worth? :3c

 

<Info-chan> Hmm. I'd say it may be worth a pretty penny, probably not worth enough in comparison for the secret but I'm feeling generous today so I'll accept it anyway.

 

<Info-chan> Remember how Kaede only came back this week? She's been away giving birth after having a fling with one of the male students without protection nine months ago, baby got sent to her aunt and uncle where it was smothered to death under its pillow. So far only her and her family are aware that this happened except for me and you, what you choose to do with this information is up to you.

 

Her phone let out a ring and a picture was sent of a weary girl holding a newborn infant, it was in a hospital and clearly taken only hours after the delivery but it was most definitely Kaede. Ayano saved it to her phone and deleted all previous messages with Info-chan just in case someone thought it would be wise to check up on her recent activity. Hearing movement outside of the room however she was quickly snapped back into reality and swiftly placed the phone into her locker, slamming it shut and exiting the room to go to the school gym.

 

The period came and went, Ayano training hard with an almost joyous feeling in her stomach as she imagined all the awful things she could do with the newfound knowledge. Once she was done she changed in the shower room with the other girls and headed on towards the gates with a jump in her step, unknown to her until she reached them however it turned out they were sealed shut with a couple of police officers stationed nearby. A large and gruff man with calculating eyes and a fierce beard that could just about have its own ecosystem living in it was speaking to the principal with a gravelly tone, it was clear they were arguing about something and a few students were gathering while acting uninterested were listening it. Ayano joined them.

 

"So tell me, what possible reason could this girl have for killing several students before killing off her best friend and herself? The girl had good grades, was exceptionally social and has never been reported for so much as a fight all her life. The police are afraid of this school like it's a damn warzone and her autopsy has revealed she has multiple burns, cut marks and amongst other things damaging her body that were present before the incident. How could you possibly think this was a simple homicide?" The gruff man asks rhetorically in a loud, gravelly voice to the wrinkled lean man in front of him.

 

"Sir, we are cooperating with the police force as best as we can for now, but you cannot keep these students trapped in here indefinitely without an arrest or at least-" The principal attempts to speak but is shut down once more.

 

"Oh? Keep your poor innocent students trapped in this miserable stink hole? We wouldn't want to do that would you." He mocks in a low and angry tone, "Well guess what? THEY'RE ALL SUSPECTS NGAAAAAH!" He practically screams and whips around, waving his hands at the guards to move away as he barrels past the gathering of students forming, knocking into Ayano he stumbles and pushes the girl to the ground by mistake. Opening his mouth to say something most definitely rude but closing it when he realizes it's just a kid.

 

"Oh, eh. Sorry there kiddo." He says in a surprisingly calmer tone then when he was speaking with the principal, although there is still some irritation in his voice. Offering his hand and pulling her up when she grabs it Ayano gets a good look of the badge proudly pinned to his chest. Ah, a private detective, Kevin Philips is the name engraved around the borders indicating English descent.

 

The police officers at the gate begin opening it with a hasty look towards the man when he raises an eyebrow at him. The students flood through as it opens and Ayano remembering her earlier discovery skips on home eager to ruin Kaede's social life, when she finishes her daily Senpai stalking routine she quickly hops on her computer at home and creates a new account to protect her identity where she posts on the school page the article of Kaede's misfortune and the picture she'd saved to her phone. Attention quickly gathers to comment, some of the students calling her a whore or saying she slept with them too. The people offering sympathy were quickly drowned out with more name calling and discussions of her other misdeeds, some not even true as the number of comments grew to about sixty by the next morning, it appears the girl was not well liked within the school.

Ayano slept with pleasant dreams the following night and wondered whether it would be enough to crush the sensitive and social girl who had riddled her with bad thoughts throughout the week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't updating in so long I've been busy with other things in life, I've had this chapter just sitting here for a month or two but I never got around to finishing it. Kudos if you can pin point where I started writing it again and it becomes a bit messy. Cheers and thanks for reading so far.


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